Ontario's gambling industry generated $2 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2023

On Wednesday, iGaming Ontario (iGO) released its report for the first full quarter of 2023-24 (April 1 to June 30). It showed record total gaming revenue of $545 million, up from $162 million in the same period last year.

The $545 million figure is also higher than the $526 million in total revenue in the final quarter of 2022.

According to the report, total sports betting for the first three months of 2023 was $2 billion, while gambling revenues totaled $138 million. And that's considering that for the period last year, total gambling revenue was $162 million.

In April 2022, Ontario became the first Canadian province to launch an open-regulated gambling market.

iGaming Ontario (iGO) is a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). It is engaged in the conduct and management of Internet gambling within the province. The iGO report does not include revenues from the online operations of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

However, it is the first time the province has provided a complete picture of total gambling revenues. And the numbers as they relate to online casinos are staggering.

The report found that online casinos accounted for $11.6 billion of the $14 billion in total wagers and $392 million in total gambling revenue. This represents 83% of total wagers and 72% of total revenues, respectively.

In comparison, sports betting accounted for just 14% of total betting volume and 25% of revenue. Poker betting accounted for $350 million (2.5% of revenue), and gambling revenue accounted for $15 million (2.8%).

In the first three months of 2022, Ontario's online platforms accepted bets totaling $4.076 billion, according to iGO. This $162 million in revenue was generated from 492,000 active player accounts.

The betting and revenue figures for 2023 are more than three times higher than in 2022.

In the first three months of 2022, there were 18 operators and 31 gambling sites. Wednesday's report showed 46 operators and 71 gaming sites.

There were about 920,000 active player accounts in the first quarter. The average monthly spend per account was $197, up from $113 a year ago.

Since the inception of the open regulated market, $35.6 billion has been delivered in Ontario, with total gambling revenue of $1.4 billion.

The vast majority of this amount - $27.6 billion in wagers (78%) and $940 million in revenue (67%) - comes from online casinos.

Sports betting brought in $7 billion in wagers (20%) and $433 in revenue (31%). Poker brought in $992 million in wagers (3%) and $40 million in revenue (3%).